All posts by n8rngtd.top

Moeen and du Plessis combine to give Samp Army their first win of the tournament too

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2023The Jordan Cox show put Bangla Tigers on the board and condemned Deccan Gladiators to their second defeat in three games in the final fixture of the Abu Dhabi T10 league on Thursday.Cox, after Gladiators had asked Tigers to bat, smashed eight fours and six sixes in a rollicking 36-ball 90 not out that gave Tigers 143 for 4, the highest total in the tournament so far. It became the highest-scoring match of the tournament so far too, as Gladiators gave it a good thump in the chase, putting up 123 for 3 with quick 40s from Nicholas Pooran and Fabian Allen keeping them in the contest, if only just.There were three ducks in the Tigers innings – Chris Lynn, David Miller and Daniel Sams totaling zero from seven balls between them – but with Cox in marauding form, they didn’t have much to worry about. Contributions also came from Kusal Mendis (19 in eight balls) and Dasun Shanaka (25* in 11).In reply, Gladiators’ batting star of the previous two games, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, was dismissed cheaply, but Andre Fletcher (17 in five balls) and Pooran kept them going. After Pooran was dismissed for a 17-ball 41, with Gladiators 72 away with 4.5 overs left, it was game on. But Andre Russell’s 11 not out took 17 balls, and despite Allen’s 40 not out in 16 balls, Gladiators ended well short.Hazratullah Zazai brought up his fifty with a six•Abu Dhabi T10

Shamsi and Zazai take Northern Warriors to the top of the table

Northern Warriors 106 for 0 (Zazai 52*, Lewis 46*) beat Team Abu Dhabi 103 for 7 (Banton 33, Shamsi 2-17) by 10 wicketsTabraiz Shamsi’s wristspin and some power-hitting from openers Kennar Lewis and Hazratullah Zazai lifted Northern Warriors to the top of the table with a thumping 10-wicket win against Team Abu Dhabi.Abu Dhabi started off on the right note when their English openers Tom Banton and Alex Hales raced to 39 in under four overs but Shamsi truck to have Banton hole out off a slog sweep. Once Colin Ingram fell for 10 two overs later, Abu Dhabi struggled to get sizeable partnerships going as Shamsi removed Hales as well and only one of their next four batters dismissed reached double digits. Asif Khan scored a quick 19 off seven with two sixes to help Abu Dhabi reach 103 for 7.Lewis and Zazai crossed that target with an over to spare, facing 27 balls each of which 10 reached the boundary rope and five went over. While Lewis remained not out on 46, Zazai reached his fifty with a winning six over long-on.Faf du Plessis struck three sixes in his quickfire knock•Abu Dhabi T10

Janat, Moeen, Gous, du Plessis get Samp Army off the mark

Samp Army 99 for 3 (Gous 43, du Plessis 31) beat Chennai Braves 97 for 7 (Asalanka 31, Janat 2-15, Moeen 2-17) by seven wicketsTwo wickets apiece from Karim Janat and Moeen Ali kept Chennai Braves to 97 for 7 before Samp Army’s openers Andries Gous and Faf du Plessis put on a rapid fifty stand to script a seven-wicket win with one ball to spare.Jason Holder and Janat first combined to reduce Braves to 6 for 2 in the second over before three wickets in the fifth over, including a run out, placed them on 27 for 6. Charith Asalanka, however, smoked a counter-attacking 31 off 13 before unbeaten cameos from Aayan Afzal Khan and Bhanuka Rajapaksa stretched them to a more respectable total, even as Holder finished with stunning figures of 2-0-8-1.Gous and du Plessis scored at a good clip at the top and even though du Plessis and Moeen fell in successive overs, the quick start meant Samp Army needed 30 runs off the last three, which Najibullah Zadran ensured they scored by hitting a winning six on the penultimate ball of the game.

The series had been in doubt after Zimbabwe were suspended, but a late confirmation from Zimbabwe Cricket has kept it alive

Mohammad Isam07-Aug-2019Zimbabwe are set to play in a T20I tri-series in Bangladesh – with Afghanistan as the third team – next month, which will be their first assignment since the ICC suspended them last month. The series was part of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) schedule for the 2019-20 season, and they waited till Wednesday evening for confirmation from Zimbabwe Cricket. The series was meant to have given Zimbabwe preparation for the World T20 qualifiers later this year from which they were removed on Tuesday.Bangladesh’s 2019-20 home season will open with their maiden Test against Afghanistan, in Chattogram from September 5 to 9, before they play the tri-series from September 13 to 24. The double-league phase will be played in Dhaka and Chattogram, with the final to be held in Dhaka on September 24.”We are holding the tri-series as planned,” said BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury. “We had to wait till now for them to confirm their participation. The ICC has clearly stated that they are allowed to play against member boards.”ESPNcricinfo has learned that additional ODIs against Zimbabwe, following the T20I tri-series, have not been ruled out by the BCB. These matches, or even a single ODI, could well be Mashrafe Mortaza’s farewell from international cricket, but talks of a fitting send-off are still on within the BCB.

Gloucestershire secure victory despite Varun Chopra’s 154 but miss out on knockout spot thanks to NRR

ECB Reporters Network07-May-2019James Bracey scored his maiden one-day century to hand Gloucestershire victory over Essex, but it was in vain as his side exited the Royal London Cup.Batsman Bracey, who only made his format debut earlier in the competition, crashed a classy hundred from 86 balls to see Gloucestershire to a four-wicket victory. But wins for Middlesex and Somerset elsewhere meant the west country men failed to go through due to their lower net run rate.Essex, who were knocked out before the match having only managed two victories in the tournament, had posted 293 thanks to Varun Chopra’s third ton of this year’s competition.Gloucestershire began their reply confidently, although Miles Hammond rode his luck when he was dropped on 20 by Dan Lawrence on the square-leg boundary. Hammond, on the back of 95 against Sussex, only scored one more run before he was caught behind off Simon Harmer while aiming down the track, before Aaron Beard demolished Gareth Roderick’s stumps.Chris Dent and Bracey then settled the innings down and put Gloucestershire on track with the required run rate during an 117-run stand. Neither came across as overly aggressive but both accumulated with skill, both posting half centuries – Dent from 67 balls and Bracey from 51 balls, which included a firmly struck six down the ground.The partnership was broken when Dent walked following a low catch to Harmer at short midwicket and Graeme van Buuren and Jack Taylor followed in quick succession, skewing to mid-on and lbw respectively.Beard, on just his second List A outing, ended with figures of 3 for 51 as he had Ryan Higgins well caught by Harmer running around to cover.
Gloucestershire still needed 86 from 9.5 after that wicket but Bracey maturely ticked the runs off along with Benny Howell, who had a runner after injuring his hamstring in the field. Bracey ended with an unbeaten 113 but it was Howell who ended the game by carting Matt Coles for six over midwicket.Earlier, stand-in Essex captain Harmer won the toss and elected to bat on a good-looking wicket, which proved a tad sluggish as the match went on.Chopra enjoyed stands of 42 and 66 for the first and second wickets with Alastair Cook and Tom Westley but both partnerships were ended by run outs. Cook was called through for a quick single after flicking to square leg, before Westley greedily attempted a third run – both comfortably short of their ground after van Buuren’s throws.Lawrence and Ravi Bopara both departed quickly, the former handing Bracey his maiden professional wicket and the latter bowled through the gate by Tom Smith.Essex looked below par at 147 for 4 but they still had Chopra, who owed his team-mates, and he carried the innings – bringing up his half-century in 70 balls. The opener continued his sluggish pace as he ticked over three figures in 129 deliveries during an 83-run stand with Rishi Patel, who scored 26 before edging behind when trying to whoosh down the ground.That wicket saw Chopra kick on with power – demonstrated with sixes down the ground and over deep square-leg – and deftness with paddle sweeps, as he passed through 150 in 163 deliveries. He fell a few balls later, finishing his season with 421 runs from five innings.The hosts looked set for a push for 300 but Essex lost five wickets in the last six-and-a-half overs to stutter to the innings break, and Gloucestershire maintained the momentum to complete their chase with seven balls to spare.

Finalising the playing XI for the second Test will be on Gambhir’s agenda once he is back with the touring party

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2024Gautam Gambhir, India’s head coach, will rejoin the touring party in Australia on Tuesday, having flown out of India after having returned home because of “personal reasons”.Gambhir missed India’s two-day tour game – which was later reduced to a limited-overs contest following rain on the first day – against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra, having flown back home at the conclusion of the first Test in Perth on November 25. Gambhir left on November 26, the scheduled final day of that Test.The second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a day-nighter in Adelaide, will start on December 6.Related

• Rohit's turn to lead from the… middle

• What do India, Australia, South Africa et al still have to do to make the WTC final?

• Siraj finds joy in his bowling again as the wickets follow

• Pujara: Rahul should bat no lower than No. 3 if Rohit opens

In Gambhir’s absence, the support staff of Abhishek Nayar, Ryan ten Doeschate and Morne Morkel had overseen the team’s training, and were part of the Canberra fixture, which the Indians won by six wickets, with Harshit Rana (4 for 44) and Shubman Gill (50 in 62 balls) playing key roles.Now, Gambhir will have to be part of the tricky discussions around India’s playing XI, with Rohit Sharma, the full-time Test captain, having linked up with the team after skipping the first Test to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. Jasprit Bumrah had led India to the comprehensive 295-run win in the Perth Test in Rohit’s absence.Gill, who had also missed that Test after fracturing his right thumb during a training session, is also back in the reckoning.Even if India bring in Rohit and Gill for Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel, who were part of the XI in Perth, there is the question of the opening combination, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul having put on a double-century first-wicket stand in India’s second innings in Perth. Indications from the pink-ball tour game, though it wasn’t a full-fledged contest, are that Jaiswal and Rahul will continue to open with Gill replacing Padikkal at No. 3, and Rohit possibly going in the middle order behind Virat Kohli. Rishabh Pant is the other certain starter in the middle order.

The Chennai pitch on which India played their first Test against Bangladesh was rated “very good”

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Nov-2024The outfield at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, which hosted the rain-affected second Test between India and Bangladesh from September 27 to October 1, has earned an “unsatisfactory” rating from the ICC. The rating comes with one demerit point for the venue.Only 35 overs of play were possible on day one of the Test match, and there was no play possible on days two and three – this was despite no rain falling during the scheduled playing hours on day three. In the lead-up to the Test match, the state’s public works department had deemed one of Green Park’s stands unsafe, and had instructed the stadium authorities to open up only a limited number of its upper-level seats to spectators.The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) uses the Green Park Stadium on the basis of an MoU it has signed with the UP government. The government owns the land but as per the MoU, the stadium and its upkeep are the responsibility of the UPCA.BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla, who hails from Kanpur, defended the venue after it came in for widespread criticism following the washout of day three but conceded that the ground, which has hosted Test cricket since 1952, was in need of refurbishment.After more than two-and-a-half days of the Test match were washed out, India put in a concerted effort to force a victory, picking up 20 Bangladesh wickets in the space of 121.2 overs, and scoring 383 runs in just 52 overs across two innings, at an unprecedented 7.36 per over.The pitch for this Test match, meanwhile, earned a “satisfactory” rating.The ICC rates pitches and outfields for all international games on a scale of very good to unfit: very good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory and unfit. One demerit point is awarded to venues for an unsatisfactory rating, and three for an unfit rating. If any ground receives five or more demerit points in a five-year rolling period, it is suspended from hosting any international cricket for 12 months.The rest of the venues that hosted India’s 2024-25 international season did not come in for any censure from the ICC. Of the pitches on which India played their five Tests, four – including all three that hosted the recently concluded series against New Zealand, in Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai – earned “satisfactory” ratings, while the surface at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium, which hosted the first Test against Bangladesh, earned a “very good” tag.